Infotel has just bought, for $2.7 billion, a pan-Indian 4G licence that will allow it to roll out wireless broadband services that could be used for video conferencing and high-speed internet access. Mr Ambani’s Reliance Industries will pay the licence fee, it said.

His decision to acquire 95 per cent of the company will put him in competition with Anil Ambani, his estranged brother, who owns RCom, India’s second-largest mobile operator.